Shook, Hardy & Bacon Partner Sean Wajert provided commentary for a July 2, 2014, Law360 article titled “Pa. Ruling Limits Asbestos Claims in Construction Suits,” discussing a Pennsylvania Superior Court ruling that applied to asbestos-related personal-injury claims a statute of repose affecting improvements to real property. Wajert, who helped draft an amicus brief in the case on behalf of the Coalition for Litigation Justice, suggested that the decision would not affect just a small subset of asbestos defendants.

He said, “As mass tort litigation has evolved, clearly plaintiffs have frequently tried to bring in defendants who have a good-faith claim that their product was involved in an improvement to a real property. It clearly doesn’t apply to all asbestos defendants and all asbestos-containing products. On the other hand, it is not an infrequent situation.” Wajert also discussed 2009 Pennsylvania Supreme Court dicta on which the trial court had erroneously relied to allow the plaintiffs’ claims to proceed. Focusing on the differences between the cases, Wajert said, “It is the farthest reaches of dicta. The parties were not the right parties, the issues were not the right issues, and it was very much a reach beyond the facts and the holding of the [2009] case.” To read the article, please click here.